//------------------------------// // Chapter 08 // Story: Trixie's Shadow // by Paul_Daniel //------------------------------// 8. Twilight stood quietly in front of the wagon. Her shoulders ached, her head throbbed, and her coat was scratched by pebbles and splinters. She was also having trouble breathing, but that had nothing to do with her physical condition. In fact, her body felt strangely distant, as though it had been some other pony who had witnessed the shadows attacking Big McIntosh and the evil cloud that had brought down— “Rarity!” Even as she cried out, Twilight whirled and dashed up the wagon’s front steps. Rarity lay where she had fallen, in the small part of the room that had not been wrecked by magic. Twilight knelt and gently touched her shoulder. “Rarity? Can you hear me?” Rarity moaned and half opened her eyes. Twilight helped her to sit, at the same time grabbing one of the nightbells that had been knocked under the remnants of Trixie’s bookshelf. For such a tiny flower, the nightbell gave off a surprisingly strong odor. Twilight held it under Rarity’s nose, and, almost at once, Rarity snapped back to her senses. “Twilight? I… was having a horrible dream.” Twilight threw down the nightbell and gave Rarity a hug. “Thanks goodness you’re okay!” “I’m fine! Where’s that shadowy fiend? What happened to the décor inside this wagon? And did I truly hear Big McIntosh or was I dreaming?” Quickly, Twilight explained. Rarity became whiter than ever. “So the shadows took our knight in shining armor? Even after he saved your life?” “It’s worse than I ever imagined,” replied Twilight. “And it’s all my fault! I should have realized what we were dealing with. But I never thought the stallion would turn out to be so powerful. I thought, if worse came to worse, I could at least stand my ground. But I couldn’t even touch him.” She gestured helplessly at the bombed-out wagon. “Perhaps not,” said Rarity, “but you can still think and there’s no pony for a thousand miles who does that better. If we can’t overpower this blackhearted vagrant, we’ll have to outfox him. It seems that’s the only way we can win, much less bring back Big McIntosh and the others.” “I did have a plan,” said Twilight, “but I don’t know if it’ll work anymore.” “Can you come up with a better one?” “Not that we could use right away.” “Then we’ll just have to give it the old Ponyville try. If nothing else, there’s an extremely important fact we can take comfort in.” “What fact?” “That no one in Ponyville ever has to try alone.” Rarity pointed to the door behind them. A large crowd had formed outside the wagon; some of the ponies who had been in the plaza earlier must have seen what happened between Big McIntosh and the black stallion, and had come to investigate. More than a few looked nervous, or even downright frightened. But that hadn’t stopped them, and the overall spirit grew stronger each time a new pony joined up with the rest. Before Twilight could address this impromptu gathering, she heard a rambunctiously familiar voice. “All right, move aside! Super important pony coming though.” The crowd parted and Rainbow Dash leapt forward. “Oh, wow!” she said, after glancing around. “And you guys call me a messy house guest? Just wait until Trixie sees what you’ve done to her room.” “If I come anywhere near enough to get my hooves on her,” said Rarity tartly, “a little furniture rearrangement will be the least of Trixie’s worries.” “A little?! You two practically pulverized this place!” Twilight could not help feeling better. The sight of Rainbow Dash waving her hooves, the sound of Rarity “eeeking!” as she stood and tiptoed around the dirtiest parts of the floor, and especially the warmth and concern from the crowd had all gone a long way in restoring her spirits. She got up, steadied herself, and walked out of the wagon. “Drizzle,” she said to a nearby pegasus, “can you fly to town hall, fast as you can, and get Mayor? Please ask her to come to the plaza right away. If she wants to know why, tell her we need to refine the plan she discussed with me this morning.” “Hey!” said Rainbow Dash. “I’m the best flyer in Ponyville! If you want someone super speedy to reach Mayor, I should go.” “No,” said Twilight, “I need you here. Or rather in Canterlot, if this doesn’t work.” “If what doesn’t work?” But Twilight had already thanked Drizzle and turned away. “Rarity,” she said, “can you explain to everypony what happened?” “I would be delighted to,” said Rarity. “Shall I tell them the whole story?” “Yes. I’ve a feeling you were right, and I should have gotten the word out sooner.” Rarity nodded and faced the crowd. As she cleared her throat to call for attention, Twilight motioned for Rainbow Dash and walked way away from the wagon. When they had passed around one of the tree planters, and were relatively out of sight from the wagon, Twilight stopped. “Um, Twilight,” said Rainbow, “you do know you’re shaking?” “Yes,” said Twilight softly, “I know.” She wiped her eyes and drew several broken breaths. Rainbow hovered uncertainly beside her. “Don’t… tell anyone, okay?” said Twilight, after a moment. “I couldn’t let them see me like this. I don’t want them worried that I might not be good enough to—” “Are you kidding? You’ve never let us down! There’s no way you’re going to start now!” “I hope you’re right. And I’m really sorry. I don’t know where this came from. I was okay a minute ago.” Twilight nerved herself and tried to get the image of shadows covering Big McIntosh out of her head. Behind her, she could just barely hear Rarity’s voice. “So… what’d you want to see me about?” asked Rainbow, in an obvious bid to change the subject. “Spike said I’m supposed to be on emergency standby.” “Yes. And I actually need to find Spike, so we can send a letter.” “Is that all? He was by the shopping strip. Be right back.” Rainbow zipped away. In less than a minute, she returned, holding Spike under his arms with her front hooves. “Wow, thanks for the ride, Rainbow!” he said, as she gently set him on the ground. “I didn’t mind walking, though.” “Yeah, but that takes forever,” said Rainbow. “And Twilight wanted you quick.” Twilight nodded. With a flick of her tail, she steadied her emotions and pushed the doubt and fear to the back of her mind. “Spike, did you have time to find what we need for a letter?” “Sure did,” said Spike. He was wearing a cotton satchel very similar to the one in which he had stored Twilight’s spell ingredients. Reaching inside it, he pulled out a small scroll, a quill, and an inkpot. When he had gotten these ready, Twilight cleared her throat and began dictating: Princess Celestia, Emergency in Ponyville—dark creature with power over shadows attacking ponies. Need your help immediately. Please hurry. -Twilight “Dark creature attacking ponies?” asked Spike, when Twilight had finished. “What have I been missing?” “In a minute,” said Twilight. “First, let’s send this.” Spike took a deep breath, rolled up the scroll, and breathed a gout of magical green fire upon it. Under normal circumstances, the letter would have been vaporized into the ether, where it could travel almost instantly to Princess Celestia. This time, however, the paper simply blackened and shriveled, leaving nothing but a handful of ash. “Weird,” said Spike, “it burned up.” “Well, duh!” said Rainbow. “How else are we supposed to mail the princess?” “No, I mean it burned up without going anywhere.” “Try again,” said Twilight. Spike rewrote the message on another scroll and went through the same motions. Once again, the paper burned into flakey black particles. “It’s like there’s something blocking it,” said Spike. Twilight forced herself to stay calm. “It’s okay,” she said. “I thought this might happen. Spike, make up another letter.” Spike did. Twilight thanked him, took the parchment scroll, and faced Rainbow Dash. “It’s in your hooves now,” she said. “You need to fly to Canterlot, as fast as you can. When you get there, head straight to Princess Celestia and deliver our letter.” Rainbow was always ready to accept a challenge. “You got it!” she said. “I’ll fly so fast, my dust’ll be eating dust!” Taking the scroll in her mouth, Rainbow spread both wings and catapulted skyward. In seconds, she was high over town, accelerating until she had become nothing more than a brightly-colored blur. Suddenly, a patch of sky began darkening in front her. “That’s not a cloud,” said Spike. Indeed it was not. It was an amorphous gathering of shadows, moving rapidly to intercept Rainbow. “LOOK OUT!” yelled Twilight. “DON’T GET NEAR IT!” Rainbow had already made an evasive maneuver. But as she skirted the darkness, a mass of black tendrils burst from its depths. Twilight held her breath as Rainbow dodged. Most of the tendrils passed above Rainbow’s body; the rest were skillfully avoided as she dropped into a dive. She had almost gotten clear when the last tendril lashed itself around her hind leg. Instantly, Rainbow was jerked to a halt. The letter flew out of her mouth, tumbling to earth after she grabbed for it and missed. A second tendril used the distraction to snatch hold of her other hind leg. Rainbow kicked and struggled, but could not free herself, and was steadily pulled toward the central mass of hovering shadows. “Not this time!” cried Twilight. Bracing herself, she summoned her magic. A ball of fiery white light appeared over Rainbow’s back. Twilight concentrated and the light surged, until it was nearly as bright as the afternoon sun. The tendrils around it dissolved, allowing Rainbow to break free and streak forward. Now that it was a straight-up chase, the darkness had no chance of catching her, and rapidly faded to nothing as she sped away from it. On the ground below, Twilight sighed in relief and ended her spell. A foot to her left, Spike looked utterly horrified. “Twilight, what was that?!” “I’ll fill you in as we walk,” said Twilight. “Hop up and let’s see if Mayor’s here.” “But your letter… Rainbow dropped it!” “That’s okay. It would have made things quicker, but she’ll still be able to see Princess Celestia. And there’s no way Rainbow will come back to Ponyville without convincing the princess to go with her.” “But—” “Spike,” said Twilight, “if you wanted to read a Daring Do book and your choices were getting it from the library or staging a midnight break-in at the Ponyville hospital to ‘borrow’ their only copy, what would you choose?” “The… library?” “Exactly. That’s why you aren’t Rainbow Dash. She’ll be fine. I promise!” Spike nodded and leapt onto Twilight’s back. As the two of them moved out, Twilight gave an abbreviated explanation of the black stallion. “So that’s what’s been happening,” said Spike. “This is awful!” Twilight had nothing to add. Instead, she looked around the plaza. The sight of Drizzle soaring above a nearby house was a huge relief, even more so when Mayor appeared in the street below her. “Over here!” called Twilight. She ran forward and quickly exchanged greetings with Mayor. Then she brought her up-to-date on the black stallion’s activities. “Well,” said Mayor, “he certainly isn’t wasting time.” “That’s why I’d like to accelerate our plan. Did the first part go all right?” “It did. I summoned my staff and sent them to bring every head of household in Ponyville to my office. Your bouncy friend was just as much of a help as you said she would be. It was almost humbling—I thought I was familiar with our leading citizens, but Miss Pinkie Pie has me beat by a mile. Not only could she tell us each pony’s name, address, and most probable hangout, she also knew exactly the right approach to get their attention. My staff returned with their guests in no time at all, and I explained the situation, so the heads of household could pass the word to their extended families.” “Good. That’s what I hoped Pinkie would do—there’s nopony who can get the town mobilized faster. Where is she now?” “She went with my secretary to the candle shop, as we’d arranged.” “So the shop should be ready for us?” “Yes.” “And the torches?” “They were delivered at town hall, a short while ago. I was helping to arrange them when your messenger asked me to come here.” “Then we have a chance. Light is the best weapon we have against the black stallion. If he were a minor entity, we could have held him at bay with it. And even though it might not do as well now, I still think that the more light we have, the better our chances of keeping our enemy in check until Princess Celestia or Princess Luna arrive.” Mayor looked surprised at this, so Twilight explained how she had sent Rainbow Dash to Canterlot. “An excellent decision. I would have done the same myself.” “Thank you,” said Twilight. “I only hope the princesses won’t delay. Meanwhile, we’d better prepare. It’ll be a few hours at least before Rainbow reaches Canterlot, and if we aren’t ready by the time it gets dark…” “Shadows are stronger at night,” finished Mayor. “I understand completely and I agree that we should hurry as much as we can. In fact, the bell should be ringing at any moment.” Even as she spoke, a loud chiming broke over town. It was the Ponyville clock tower and it rang seven times in succession, a rare signal that was used only in true emergencies. The response from the townsfolk was swift and immediate. Windows were shuttered, stores were closed, and foals hustled indoors, while older ponies began streaming into the plaza. Mayor and Twilight moved to a small raised dais on the northern side. Very shortly, they had a sea of anxious faces spread out before them. “I’ll give the address,” said Mayor. Twilight nodded and moved aside to let Mayor speak. Fortunately, Rarity had done an excellent job of explaining things to the wagon crowd, and they, in turn, had worked quite a bit to spread the word already. That, combined with what Mayor and Pinkie Pie had told the heads of household earlier, meant that a large number of ponies came to the assembly with a good idea of what they were facing. Moreover, ever since Ponyville had faced an attack from the chaotic Discord, its citizens were keenly aware that magical threats called for swift and decisive action. So it was that, under Mayor’s authority and Twilight’s guidance, an ambitious plan was put into action. First, torches were distributed, to be used after sundown, along with lesser numbers of lanterns, oil lamps, and the occasional miner’s hat. The Light House, Ponyville’s candle shop, also made its stock freely available, and candles were placed all across town by the unicorns, whose natural telekinesis magic allowed them to reach any spot, particularly where it would be darkest after sundown. Meanwhile, pegasi were instructed to clear the sky overhead, and to keep all clouds away, so that there would be no obstruction to the radiance of sun, moon, and stars. Below them, the powerful earth ponies dragged in huge logs and built two enormous piles of wood, to be used for bonfires, one in Ponyville Plaza and the other near town hall. And, of course, this was only the beginning. Street lamps were cleaned and oiled, messengers were sent to check on those who had not attended the meeting, and all ponies were instructed not to move about in groups of less than three. In addition, tables, chairs, and parasols were set up at the northern end of Ponyville Plaza, and quills, parchment, inkwells, maps, and sundry other items were brought in to serve as part of a command station, creating a central location from which the town’s activities could be coordinated. “I do believe we’re going to be ready,” said Rarity, who had stayed with Mayor and Twilight to help with the organizing. “I hope so,” said Twilight, “but we shouldn’t feel overconfident. It could be a long night.” Rarity nodded and went back to marking light distribution spots on one of the street maps. Twilight sat down beside her, trying to hide a wince. Her left hind leg felt painful and sore; she had landed heavily upon it when the black stallion had blasted her backwards, and the limb must have been injured worse than she thought. But there was no time to tend it now. Twilight had just finished establishing a pegasus relay team, partly to spot for another sky shadow and partly to watch for Princess Celestia. She had also sent a different team to the Everfree forest, with instructions to contact, not only Fluttershy, but the handful of ponies who lived far enough from Ponyville that they would not have heard the alarm bells. Now Twilight felt decidedly weary. The adrenaline energy was long since gone, and her late night reading and early morning run across the prairie were both catching up with her, to say nothing of the extraordinary amount of magic she had expended during the past few hours. It would be so easy to stop and rest for a minute. It might even help her escape from the pain in her leg. Surely there was no harm in that… Twilight lowered her head on the table. She closed her eyes and sleep rolled over her like a wave from the depths.